Hopper car



United States Patent [72] Inventors Marvin Stark a corporation of Delaware [54] HOPPER CAR 13 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

52 u.s. Cl 105/248,

[51] Int. Cl B61d 5/00, B61d 7/00, B61d 1/10 [50] Field of Search 105/240,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1964 Johnson 105/248X Primary ExaminerArthur L. La Point Assistant Examiner-Howard Beltran Atto'meys-Hilmond O. Vega] and Wayne Morris Russell ABSTRACT: A hopper car having an end construction of a hopper torque box type with the upper part of the slope sheet connecting with the upper part of the bolster web and the horizontal shear plate connecting with the lower part of the bolster web but spaced outwardly from the slope sheet, and a vertical bending unit including a pair of upright members attached between the hopper roof and the shear plate outwardly of the bolster web and the vertical flat end wall so that coupler forces are taken up by the vertical bending structure and where the side sill structure may include an inwardly directed angle plate construction attaching the ends of the side sheeting to the angle plate.

Patented Dec. 1, 1970 Sheet l of 2 INVENTORS' MARVIN STARK a NORMAN M. SZALA I ATT'X Patented Dec. 1,' 1970 Sheet INVENTORS MARVIN STARK as- NORMAN M. SZALA ATT'Y.

Ll ield of the invention v The'iield of art to which this invention pertains is the railroad freight car art and particularly relates to the end construction of the car for accepting loads acting on the vehicle couplerswhich attempt to create moments about the ends of the car.

2. Description of the Prior Art it is known in the prior art to provide for a reinforcing of the outer ends of the freight car, such use hopper car, by creating 'end arrangement to withstand the bending forces applied thereto due to loading on the vehicle couplers. The present ar- SUMMARY it is a general object and purpose of this invention to provide for a novel and construction fora freight car, such as a hopper car", where the shear plate is spaced from the end slope sheet to present an open type torque box and wherein loads on the stub sill shear plate and bolster web and slope sheet are taken up by a vertical bending structure extending between the outer upper or root end portions of the car and the shear plate or beam means. Another object of the invention is to provide for a side sill construction employing an in-turnecl angle beam for each sill which has its horizontal portion welded to the lower end portions of the'respectiveside sheet attached thereto. The invention further contemplates the use of a flat end wall construction with the vertical bending structure being load located on the outside thereof and connecting with the shear plate and including a pair of vertical elements over the lateral upright walls of the center sill construction'for proper reinforcement of the vertical bending structure.

These and other objects and advantages will become'apparent from reference to the following description, appended claims and attached drawings, to wit:

BRlEF DESCRliTlON OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a side view of the novel hopper car arrangement;

FlG. 2 is a plan view partially in section of such hopper car arrangement; and

F IG. 3 is an end view construction partially in section of the hopper car taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 with portions omitted.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT,

With reference now to the drawings, there is shown a hopper car 2. The hopper car is provided with an upper or roof portion 3, a pair of sides 4 and lower hopper units 5. The sides of each hopper unit are in plan view of bowed or elliptical configuration, as indicated at 6 in FIG. 2 and also of downwardly inwardly tapered shape as indicated at on in the end elevational view of FIG. 3. H6. 2 also shows the interior portions 7 (left half of view) of the hopper as well as the batch portion 8 (righthalf of view) with batch covers 9 and running boards 10 and roof cover or sheet ltlnhaving a curved end portion lllb. It is noted that there are shown three such hopper units 5 covered by outwardly bowed or elliptical sides sheets ll of the sides 4. The sides 4 or side girders not only include the sheets it but side sillslZ- and top side plates 13. The top sheet on roof Illa is welded by weldments W to each of the side sheets H, as best seen in FIG. 3. The car 2 is further provided with opposed and stub sills lid supported on trucks 16 on rails 17. The center stub sill l5 includes upper and lower horizontally longitudinally extending members 18 and opposed upright lateral members 19, half of such sill being seen in FIG. 3. A shear plate or beam 2d having outer upstanding flange end 211 and inner downward turned flange end 22 and central flat horizontal plate portion 23 is mounted on each stub sill l". in FIG. 3 the let! half of the view shows the interlor lower hopper portion 7 and partition 7a and the shear plate means Zll at one end of the car while the right half of the view shows the other shear plate means Ztl mounted on its stub sill l5 and attached to the upright transverse t'lat vertically extending end wall sheet 24 having vertically extending reinforcing members 25 (as also seen in left half section of FlG. 2). As seen in FIG. l, the shear plate structure 2% falls short of the cnd hopper or slope sheet 27 of each of the outboard hoppers 5 and thus we have an open or incomplete torque box arrangement of the bolster beam or web 28 which extends transverse- 1y between the side sills 12, the end. hopper or slope sheet 27 and the shear plate 2ll, said bolster beam llil being connected to the end hopper 27, the shear plate 2d and each of the menu bers 2. The bolster web 28 extends upwardly from the shear plate 20 over the center plate portion of the trucks to midway between the truck wheels.

A vertical bending structure 30 is attached to the underside of the overhanging roof portion till: and extends downwardly and is mounted to shear plate 20. as seen in FiGS. l-3l. The vertical bending structure 316 comprises a pair of laterally spaced vertically extending upright reinforcing plates on members 31 and 32 each of which at their upper ends extend between the outer edge of the roof and the flat surface of the end wall 24 and extend downwardly in an outwardly diagonally extending outwardly sloping path and merge with the upper floor surface of the shear plate structure Zll, the inner vertical edge of each of the bending plates 31 and 32 lying flush against the vertical surface of the upright end wall 24. Loads applied at the coupler l5 cause a moment to occur due to a tendency of the end stub sill 15 to want to rotate or pivot to consequently deflect the outer upper end portion or roof portion of the hopper car inwardly or outwardly, which movement of the upper outer end of the car being prevented in thatit is tied down to the shear plate structure Zll by the intermediate vertical bending structure.

As best seen in FIG. 3, the side sills 12 are L-shaped each ineluding an upright part 12a and a horizontal inwardly extending portion 1211 with the lower end 11:; of the side sheet 11 being welded to the flat surface of the horizontal flange portion l2b of each of the side sills 12.

There is provided no internal diaphragm or gusset structure for the bolster'web and there is no closed torque box because the shear beam is not tied to the end hopper, so no welding inside the torque box is needed to tie in th the components of the torque box and, therefore, difficult and expensive welding operations are eliminated by using the tie down or vertical bending structure 30 between the roof ends and side plates and the shear beam structure of the hopper car. The vertical bending members 31 and 32 are in vertical alinement and disposed over the upright wall portions 19 of each of the sills 15 for car end reinforcement. The use of the bolster web may be eliminated with this type of bending structure so it web or end wall or sheet 24 is at center of trucks.

The shear plate 2.0, the bolster web 28 and the end hopper or end slope sheet 27 form the open torque boxarrangement. If the torque box shear plate 2.6 were fixed to the end hopper we would have a closed torque box. Our torque box arrangement opposes draft and buff forces directed at the centerline through the center sill structure 15. With the torque box open it cannot operate as an effective resistance to buff and draft forces. It is the purpose of the invention to provide the vertical bending beam or structure 30 which takes the place of the torque box and, therefore, the torque box may be open for access to welding operations, The vertical bending structure 3% counters the effect of buff and draft forces passing along the centerline of the sill structure 15. if a buff force or impact force impinges inwardly centrally and longitudinally of the sill 15 a reaction force in line with the plane of the shear plate tends to move outwardly of the car at thc end of the shear plate while an opposite force is directed inwardly and longitudinally in line'with the roof or top portion of the car. If draft forces are imposed at the longitudinally centerline of the central stub sill l5, meaning that the draft force is directed outwardly, an inwardly directed force passes through the shear plate and an outwardly directed force passes in line with the roof or top structure. The vertical bending structure or beam in either buff or draft force situations connecting the roof or top portion with the shear plate and with the central sill l5, reacts in bending to offset the buff on draft forces. In buff, the top portion of the vertical beam structure 30 is deflected or tends to be deflected outwardly relative to the bottom portion of the vertical bending structure 30. The reverse is true in draft, that is, the top portion of the vertical beam 30 tends to deflect inwardly to the car relative to the lower portion of the beam structure 30 to offset the effect of the draft forces. The top or roof structure 3 may be considered a top horizontal beam and the shear plate 20 may be considered a' lower horizontal beam with the structure 30 being a vertical beam reactive of the forces impinging at the longitudinally centerline of the draft sill 15.

The tying of the lower skirt portion of the side sheets to the angle shaped side sills provides for reinforcing of the hopper sill with the structural reinforcement members of the hopper car to provide added car strength.

The foregoing description and drawings are given merely to explain and illustrate the invention, and the invention is not to be limited thereto, except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, since those skilled in the art who have the disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention. I

We claim:

1. A vehicle construction comprising:

a pair of longitudinally extending side girders, each side girder being defined by side sheet means;

each side girder having an upper longitudinally extending reinforcing side plate connecting with the upper parts of each of the side sheet means;

Upper generally horizontal beam means connecting with I the side girders;

a lower reinforcing side sill extending longitudinally of the vehicle and at the lower ends of each of the sheet means; an end construction at each end of the vehicle joining with 'the'side girders and comprising a hopper end slope wall sloping upward toward the outer end of the vehicle to the upper horizontal beam means;

truck means supporting the vehicle at each end construction;

an end stub center sill over each truck means;

each end construction beingprovided with a generally horizontally extending shear beam means mounted over its end stub center sill and connecting with each of said side sills and spaced longitudinally from a respective hopper end wall to define an open space between the shear beam means and the hopper end slope wall;

vertical transverse end wall means for each end construc tion connecting with and extending between said shear beam means and said side platesand joining at its upper end with the hopper end slope wall; and

vertical bending beam means being in the form of longitudinally extending vertical reinforcing members spaced apart from one another and each connecting with the vehicle upper beam means and the shear beam means and the transverse end wall means which vertical bending means opposed pitching movement from end loads imposed upon the couplers of the vehicle.

2 A vehicle construction comprising:

.a pair of longitudinally extending side girders, each side girder being defined by side sheet means;

each side girder having an upper longitudinally extending reinforcing side plate connecting with the upper parts of each of the side sheet means; upper generally horizontal beam means;

each side girder having a lower reinforcing side sill extending longitudinally of the vehicle and at the lower ends of each of the side sheet means;

an end construction at each end of the vehicle joining with the side girders and comprising a hopper end slope wall sloping upward toward the outer end of the vehicle to the upper horizontal beam means;

each end construction having end stub center sill means for its vehicle coupler;

each end construction being provided with a generally horizontally extending shear beam means mounted over its stub center sill means and connecting with each of said side sills and spaced longitudinally from a respective hopper end slope wall to define an open space between the beam means and the end slope wall; and

vertical bending beam means connecting with the horizontal beam means and the shear beam means which vertical bending means in bending opposes pitching movement from end loads imposed upon the couplers of the vehicle.

3. The invention according to claim 2, and upright upper bolster beam means extending between and connecting with the shear beam means and the end slope wall intermediate of the shear beam means.

4. The invention according to claim 2, and each of said side sheet means in transverse cross section being bowed outwardly so thatboth side sheet means together provide for a generally elliptical-type construction in cross section for joining with the hopper end slope walls.

5. The invention according to claim 2, and said side sill being in the form of an angle beam having an upright portion and an inwardly directed horizontal transverse portion, the lower portion of the side sheet means being connected with the horizontal portion of said angle beam for tying the side sheet means to said side sill on each side of the vehicle.

6. The invention according to claim 2, and said stub center sill comprising a pair of vertically extending laterally spacedapart longitudinally extending members, each being in generally vertical alinement with a respective vertical reinforcing member.

7. The invention according to claim 2, and said shear beam means comprising a horizontally extending shear plate having an inner end downwardly projecting plate portion and an outer end upwardly extending plate portion.

8. The invention according to claim 2, and vertical transverse end wall means for each end construction connecting with and extending between said shear beam means and said side plate and joining with the ends of said hopper end wall, said vertical bending means being spaced rearwardly of said hopper end wall.

9. The invention according to claim 2, and said upper horizontal beam means comprising a hopper roof means.

10. The invention according to claim 2, and said vertical bending beam means being in the form of a pair of longitudinally extending vertical reinforcing members spaced apart from one another.

11. The invention according to claim 10, and each of said vertical bending members being generally diagonally shaped in longitudinal section having outwardly facing edge sloping downwardly and outwardly from said upper horizontal beam means to said shear beam means.

12. A vehicle end construction comprising:

a pair of longitudinally extending side girders each having side sheet means, an upper longitudinally extending reinforcing side plate connecting with each side sheet means and a lower reinforcing side sill extending longitudinally of the vehicle connecting with the side sheet means;

an upper generally horizontal beam connecting with each side girder;

end stub center sill means for the vehicle end coupler;

an end hopper slope sheet;

a generally horizontally extending shear beam means mounted over said stub said stub center sill and connecting with each of said side sills and spaced longitudinally from the end slope sheet to define an open space;

the sidewalls and-comprising a generally upper horizontal beam means connecting with each of the sidewalls and an end stub center sill means and a lower generally horizontal shear beam means on the center sill means;

each end construction having an end stub center sill means for the vehicle coupler, said sill means being connected to the underside of said shear beam means;

a vertically extending lading storage end wall extending from' said upper beam means and below said shear beam means and spaced from said shear beam means to define an open space therebetween; and

a vertical bending beam means connecting each of said upper beam means with each of said lower beam means and opposing buff and draft forces imposed upon the end stub center sill means. 

